The exhibition is organised on the occasion of the 130^th anniversary of the founding of the Jakob Hlavka Factory in Zagreb, whose successor is the company Instrumentaria d.d.

The development of the healthcare system during the 19th century in Croatia increasingly created an attractive market for specialised manufacturers of hospital instruments, devices and furniture. Jakob Hlavka, a 27-year-old surgical mechanic from the Czech Republic who settled in Zagreb in 1896 and opened a specialised workshop for the production and repair of surgical instruments fully understood this entirely untapped potential. Over the course of four decades, Hlavka expanded his business and built a factory with his own shop. By producing high-quality medical instruments, devices, furniture and aids in cooperation with practising doctors, he made an important contribution to the advancement of medical facilities in the wider area of Southeast Europe, and by constructing new buildings at 5 Tomićeva and 24 Ilica streets, he left his mark on shaping interwar Zagreb as an important industrial and commercial centre. After moving the company premises in 1939, he handed over the management of the company to his son, Dr. Dragutin Hlavka, and the factory continued to operate under the same name until 1945. After World War II, the factory was nationalised, and production continued with Hlavka’s original machinery, technology, and skilled staff.

In 1948, the production of prostheses and orthopaedic devices became independent from the parent factory in the newly founded company Banija in Zagreb. Banija does not exist any more, but it has active successors: the companies OTOS (Ortopedska tehnika, Osijek, Slavonija) in Osijek and PAR-MAR in Zagreb.

Since 1951, the remnants of the former Hlavka company have operated under the name Instrumentaria with headquarters in Zagreb. Instrumentaria continued to produce medical implants and instruments and soon expanded its production program to include orthopaedic devices, medical equipment and consumables, as well as prostheses and specialised medical instruments. Instrumentaria’s work, similar to that of the Hlavka factory, is supported by intensive cooperation with medical doctors and the development and improvement of various surgical procedures. In the early 1990s, the production of orthopaedic and osteosynthetic implants began to rise, for which Instrumentaria is still recognizable today.

In one hundred and thirty years of their existence, the Jakob Hlavka Factory and Instrumentaria, have become deeply rooted in the Croatian medical past and present. Orthopaedists, traumatologists, surgeons and medical experts rely on their products every day. This is a story of one hundred and thirty years of knowledge, trust and Croatian expertise in the service of health and patient care.

IMPRESSUM

Organisers
Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Croatian Museum of Medicine and Pharmacy
Member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Marko Pećina, Head of the Museum
Prof. Stella Fatović-Ferenčić, Deputy Head of the Museum
Silvija Brkić Midžić, Director of the Museum
Division for the History of Medical Sciences of the Institute for History and Philosophy of Science
Member of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts Vjekoslav Jerolimov, Head of the Institute

Co-organisers
Instrumentaria d. d.
Stevica Hodić, CEO
Marija Kajić, Assistant to the CEO
Zagreb City Museum
PhD Aleksandra Berberih-Slana, director
Ana Torić, PR adviser

Authors of the exhibition
Silvija Brkić Midžić
Prof. Stella Fatović-Ferenčić

Exhibition design, visual identity and graphic design of the exhibition materials
Studio Rašić
Ante Rašić

Prepress
Studio Rašić
Ankica Penava-Pejčinović

Digitalisation of the documentary material
Goran Vržina

Technical setup
Tehnička služba Muzeja grada Zagreba / Technical Service of the Zagreb City Museum

The realisation of the exhibition was financially supported by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the City Office for Culture of the City of Zagreb, Instrumentaria d. d., OTOS and the CASA Foundation.